Hello everyone!
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| Butterick 3505 worn with a Pam Hogg coat handed down to my from my aunt. I've got a cold at the moment, otherwise would have done some Pam Hogg-esque make-up to match. Learnings from this coat: if you're punk enough, you don't need to print match! |
The leaves have turned, the chill has snuck in and, as of today, the clocks have gone back. It's been a busy couple of months for me- I went to my cousin's wedding at the beautiful restored cinema the Worthing Dome, had a week in Istanbul, filled my brain to bursting with films at the London Film Festival, and have been hosting my boyfriend's mum who's been over from Canada (which meant showing her around our neighbourhood and a daytrip out to the fascinating centre of Second World War code-breaking, Bletchley Park). So it has taken quite a while to complete this- a very late in the year Vintage Pledge make!
I was similarly behind on the game with last year's Vintage Pledge, and I don't think I'm going to make my very loose plan of three garments for this year- I just need other things in my wardrobe more urgently (jeans, trousers and tops!) and am keen to make more of a dent in my fabric stash which is all spoken for with other more modern projects (although almost all vintage-inspired!). Having said that I did do a bit of online fabric shopping today to enable what is likely to be my second and final Vintage make for the year- this skirt. I just need a black skirt in my wardrobe and it's surprisingly hard to find the right thing when trying to buy plain fabric in an actual shop (maybe it's just the distraction of more eye-catching prints).
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| Think the interfacing I used for the neckline facing might be a bit stiff and is pulling the shoulder a bit out of shape here. Hopefully it will soften up in the wash! |
So the Butterick 3505 is a pretty easy make. It's designed for moderate stretch knits, and I've made it in this ponte or double knit from Goldhawk Road. It's a single-size pattern, and luckily for me Angus's gran (the original pattern owner) was more or less the same size as me, so I've made as is apart from adding an inch or so for an FBA. This pretty much worked out, although I think it's added a bit more width across the shoulders than I need which makes me a look a bit boxy and top-heavy from some angles.
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| Excuse the serious face. My sleeve-seeting is not the best I've ever done here. It was one of those things I pointlessly rushed through, just to then have to put down the project for a while. |
I made up View B, as modelled on the lady in blue on the left in the pattern illustration, but the length was mid-calf when made up. Although I like the flirty above the knee length I quite liked the mid-calf too so have kept that for now. It's just a 3cm hem turned up once using a blind hem with the raw edge neatened using the overlock foot. The blind hem foot really is a magical tool and I wish I'd played with more often- the stitching is totally invisible from the right side and it was fairly easy to use.
I'm glad I followed the instructions and did the blind hem- although they also called for seam binding for the underbust seams which I confess I didn't do. I'm not sure if you can see that the bodice is gathered under the bust in these pictures? I hope I don't regret not binding those seams, as I'm assuming that's to stabilise and prevent the heaviness of the skirt pulling the bodice out of shape. All of my seams are trimmed and finished using the overlocker foot which hopefully will give some stability.
I love the centre seam and think it flows quite flatteringly. There is a tiny bit of wobbling- next time I think I would stablise the centre seam with strips of interfacing just to ensure the centre seam is really crisp. I'd be keen to make this up again, maybe just in plain black, and go for the shorter length and narrower shoulders next time. It should be a bit speedier when not done in very small chunks between myriad distractions. It's been a lovely couple of months but I have to say I'm looking forward to time to myself and getting on with some more making!
Finally the back view. Not a bad invisible zip insertion but maybe I should have done a swayback adjustment. Excuse the shiny dart from pressing without a protective cloth- I hope that will go back to matt in the wash. I think there's also a cheeky tailor's tack I forgot to remove at the tip of the dart there!
Here's to my long-suffering photographer. He had me snap this because of his hilariously thrown together Sunday slouchwear. He still looks good though, no?
Not too much more to say about this- a very simple make really but with a couple of new techniques for me to try and a pretty wearable result! Wish me luck with my next Vintage pledge make- hopefully it won't take as long to come together!
What have you been making? Any other Vintage Pledgers out there?
NorseOtter xxx
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